This article examines the semantics and the functioning of the terms “obucheniye” and “prepodavaniye” in the modern pedagogical literature. The analysis concludes that despite the variety of definitions, the term “obucheniye” is used mainly in the traditional sense as the activity of a teacher. However, «obucheniye» is not an exact synonym to «prepodavaniye» as the former is associated with both the theoretical and practical aspects of educational material, while the latter is restricted to the theoretical aspect.